Should I Focus More on Diamond Clarity or Diamond Color?

When people begin the process of shopping for a diamond engagement ring, they often begin by learning basic information about the 4C’s of diamond grading, which consist of categories described as Cut, Color, Clarity, and Carat Weight.

Diamond Clarity or Diamond Color?

All of these factors describe characteristics of the diamond used for valuation purposes, and therefore affect the price of the diamond. People frequently ask me whether diamond clarity or diamond color is more important in terms of being more noticeable, and which has more effect upon the beauty of a diamond, and I will address that subject in this blog post with the understanding that my primary focus as a diamond buyer is always upon the visual performance of the diamond.

How the Clarity Grade of a Diamond is Determined:

The first step of clarity grading a diamond is to determine the extent to which the diamond is “eye clean” which is done by examining the diamond from a distance of 9 – 12 inches without magnification and determining whether any clarity characteristics, known as inclusions, are visible to the naked eye.

Regardless of whether the grader locates inclusions with just their eyes, the diamond will also be evaluated using 10x and higher magnification to determine the extent of the inclusions, and to identify any additional inclusions which may be present within the diamond.

How the Color Grade of a Diamond is Determined:

Although we describe diamonds as being a specific color, such as G-color or J-color, diamonds are actually graded for an absence of color, and each color grade represents a range of color. The scale begins with D-colorless which is considered to be the highest color, and runs down to Z which is the lowest grade used to describe diamonds which are faint yellow in color.

Diamond color grading is determined by placing the diamonds upside down so that they are sitting on the table facet with the culet pointing up in the air, set on a white tray, under the controlled light of a diamond grading light which is color corrected, and observed from a side profile in a completely dark room, and compared side-by-side with other diamonds known as a “master set” which have already been graded for color.

While the color of a diamond might be easy to determine from a side profile under this type of controlled lighting environment, it is much more difficult to ascertain under normal lighting circumstances from a top-down vantage point.

Should You Focus More on Diamond Clarity or Diamond Color?

Much of the decision to focus more on the clarity or color of a diamond while shopping for a diamond engagement ring, diamond pendant, or diamond stud earrings, will be determined by your personal preference and quality of vision.

However the selection factor which I think is most important is the overall cut quality of the diamond, because it dictates the volume of light return, how bright the diamond appears, and the sparkle factor, all of which determine how easily it will be for you to locate inclusions and accurately judge the color of the diamond.

Brian Gavin Signature Diamonds and Brian Gavin Blue Diamonds with blue fluorescence are cut to proportions which are optimized to deliver the maximum volume of light return, brilliance, dispersion, and scintillation. The diamonds look so bright and sparkly that it is more difficult to locate inclusions and the diamonds tend to face up whiter than diamonds which are not cut with such a high degree of precision.

For this reason, a lot of our clients are quite happy buying diamonds in the SI-2 and SI-1 clarity grades, and in what would traditionally be considered to be warmer colors, such as J-K-L color, without sacrificing carat weight or visual performance.